PARIS: Novak Djokovic became the first big-name player to be eliminated from the men’s tournament at the French Open, losing to No. 29 Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the third round yesterday.
The fourth-seeded Serb reached the semifinals at Roland Garros in each of the last two years, but could do little against Kohlschreiber while playing for the third time in three days.
“What is disappointing was that I couldn’t find the rhythm throughout the whole match,” said Djokovic, who completed a suspended three-set win from the previous round on Friday.
“I was trying not to be frustrated with a lot of unforced errors. Tried to be positive and just wait for the chances.” Djokovic finished the match with 38 unforced errors, 16 more than Kohlschreiber. “He didn’t give me a lot of chances. But yet again, I didn’t work for those chances,” Djokovic said.
“This is the problem. I played too passive, and he played really solid from all the strokes.”
No. 6 Andy Roddick managed to stick around, however, reaching the French Open’s fourth round for the first time by beating Marc Gicquel of France 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
Second-seeded Roger Federer and No. 5 Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina also reached the fourth round, as did No. 2 Serena Williams and No. 5 Jelena Jankovic from the women’s draw.
Roddick is only the second American to advance this far at the clay-court major since Andre Agassi in 2003, the same year Roddick won the US Open. Robby Ginepri also made the fourth round in Paris last year. “It’s three matches,” said Roddick, who had seven aces and only 11 unforced errors. “It’s a lot better than I’ve done here before.”
Roddick has reached at least the semifinals at the other three majors. Besides winning the 2003 US Open, he also is a two-time runner-up at Wimbledon. But at the French Open, Roddick’s best performance before this year was the third round in his 2001 debut. “I like my chances maybe more than the other years,” Roddick said.
“I feel like I’m moving a little bit better on this stuff. I’m able to kind of slide into my forehand.” Del Potro beat Igor Andreev of Russia 6-4, 7-5, 6-4, while No. 9 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, No. 11 Gael Monfils of France, No. 16 Tommy Robredo of Spain and Tommy Haas of Germany also gained the fourth round.
On the women’s side, fourth-seeded Elena Dementieva lost to No. 30 Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
Dementieva’s exit came a day after No. 3 Venus Williams lost in straight sets.
Stosur converted seven of her 15 break points against Dementieva, the 2004 runner-up at Roland Garros.
“I just feel I’m far away from ... being in good shape,” Dementieva said. “I feel like I couldn’t perform any better.” Stosur has never before reached the fourth round at the French. She made it that far at the 2006 Australian Open, but has never played in the quarterfinals at a major.
“As that match went on today I knew I could get there because I was playing (well) enough and was handling the conditions and everything maybe a little bit better than her,” Stosur said.
Serena Williams rallied to beat Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, while Jankovic defeated 73rd-ranked Jarmila Groth of Australia 6-1, 6-1. No. 7 Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 US Open champion, beat Melinda Czink of Hungary 6-1, 6-3.
Williams was broken once in the first set, but she complained about the final point, which she believed hit her opponent’s body. Martinez Sanchez said the ball hit her racket.
“The ball did touch her 100 percent on her arm,” Williams said. “The rules of tennis is when the ball hits your body, then it’s out of play. You lose a point automatically. So the ball hit her body, and therefore, she should have lost the point instead of cheating.”
No. 9 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus completed her comeback over No. 22 Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 5-7, 7-5, 6-2.
Suarez Navarro won the first set Friday and Azarenka took the second before play was suspended because of darkness.
No. 12 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland, No. 24 Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada and unseeded Virginie Razzano of France also advanced.
Results
Men
Third round: Tommy Haas (GER) bt Jeremy Chardy (FRA) 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4; Andy Roddick (USA x6) bt Marc Gicquel (FRA) 6-1, 6-4, 6-4; Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG x5) bt Igor Andreev (RUS x25) 6-4, 7-5, 6-4; Gael Monfils (FRA x11) bt Jurgen Melzer (AUT x24) 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1; Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA x9) bt Christophe Rochus (BEL) 6-2, 6-2, 6-2; Tommy Robredo (ESP x16) bt Maximo Gonzalez (ARG) 4-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-0; Philipp Kohlschreiber (GER x29) bt Novak Djokovic (SRB x4) 6-4, 6-4, 6-4; Roger Federer (SUI x2) bt Paul-Henri Mathieu (FRA x32) 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.
Women
Third round: Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS x7) bt Melinda Czink (HUN) 6-1, 6-3; Samantha Stosur (AUS x30) bt Elena Dementieva (RUS x4) 6-3, 4-6, 6-1; Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x12) bt Kateryna Bondarenko (UKR) 6-2, 6-4; Victoria Azarenka (BLR x9) bt Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP x22) 5-7, 7-5, 6-2; Aleksandra Wozniak (CAN x24) bt Lourdes Dominguez (ESP) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3; Virginie Razzano (FRA) bt Tathiana Garbin (ITA) 7-5, 7-5; Jelena Jankovic (SRB x5) bt Jarmila Groth (AUS) 6-1, 6-1; Serena Williams(USA x2) bt Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
